REIMAGINING AMERICAN HISTORY EDUCATION

REIMAGINING

AMERICAN

HISTORY

EDUCATION

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation May 2019

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation thanks Brittney Lewer of New York University for carrying out the research and authoring this report.

Suggested Citation Format: Lewer, B., 2019. Reimagining American History Education. Princeton, NJ: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

? 2019 The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

3

SECTION I: CURRENT PRACTICE

4

1. Are students required to study American history?

4

2. Are teachers prepared to teach American history?

4

3. Are the current curriculum and instruction effective?

5

4. Has knowledge of American history declined?

6

SECTION II: RESEARCH ON LEARNING

7

1. Activating and engaging students

7

2. Hands-on activities

8

3. Stimulating curiosity

9

4. Assessing learning and providing feedback

11

SECTION III: EXEMPLARY HISTORY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

13

1. History Detectives (New-York Historical Society)

13

2. DBQuest (iCivics)

14

3. Reading Like a Historian (Stanford History Education Group)

15

4. Hamilton Education Program (Gilder Lehrman Institute)

17

5. Reacting to the Past (Barnard College)

18

6. HistoryQuest (Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) 20

SECTION IV: THE WW AMERICAN HISTORY INITIATIVE

21

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Current U.S. history requirements and standards

for elementary and secondary schools

24

Appendix B: Race/ethnicity of public school students and teachers, by year

42

Appendix C: Additional Projects of Interest

46

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REIMAGINING AMERICAN HISTORY EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

This report looks to the future of American history education. The report grows out of national and state polls that the Foundation conducted in late 2018 on Americans' knowledge of the history of their country. The Foundation's initial poll found that two out of three Americans were incapable of passing the U.S. citizenship test and led the Foundation to conduct a study of American history education--what it is and what it should become. This report examines current practice in teaching American history, discusses the research on the most effective ways to learn American history, describes outstanding programs that incorporate these approaches, and announces a new Woodrow Wilson initiative that seeks to apply the research to bolster the teaching and learning of American history across the country.

The Foundation is undertaking this initiative in the belief that knowledge of American history is essential to

? establishing the engaged and informed citizenry needed to preserve a democratic society;

? reestablishing the common bonds that all Americans share in a time of deep national political, economic, and social divisions in which Americans' differences overshadow our commonalities;

? understanding the past in a time of profound, continuing, and accelerating change in order to make sense of a chaotic present and inchoate future, as history is both an anchor in a time when change assails us and a laboratory for studying the changes that are occurring; and

? educating a generation of Americans who think like historians, who know how to ask questions about the present and future rooted in the past, and to marshal the data to answer those questions.

The initial poll found out that two out of three Americans were incapable of passing the U.S. citizenship test.

3

REIMAGINING AMERICAN HISTORY EDUCATION

SECTION I: CURRENT PRACTICE

The Foundation carried out a study of current practice in American history education with the goal of learning why Americans performed so poorly on the citizenship test. It asked four principal questions:

1. Are students required to study American history? 2. Are teachers prepared to teach American history? 3. Are current curriculum and instruction effective? 4. Has knowledge of American history declined?

What follows are the very succinct answers to these questions. A fuller reporting of findings of the research can be found in Appendix A.

1. ARE STUDENTS REQUIRED TO STUDY AMERICAN HISTORY?

Yes, almost all students study American history. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia require the study of U.S. history in elementary school, and 39 states and the District of Columbia require the study of U.S. history in middle school.1 At the secondary level, it is a graduation requirement, typically of a year, in 42 states and the District of Columbia.2 One might lament that it is not required in all states or question the length of the course of study, but the simple fact is that all of the questions asked on the citizenship test would be covered in a one-year American history course. A lack of exposure is not the reason why the majority of Americans failed the test.

2. ARE TEACHERS PREPARED TO TEACH AMERICAN HISTORY?

Yes, the mythology that history classrooms are filled with coaches unable to teach other subjects is dead wrong. In reality, those who teach American history today--social science teachers--have the appropriate credentials. Among high school social science teachers, 83 percent are certified in social science (state certifications of history teachers include history, history and government, social studies, and social science among others).3 Fully 79 percent majored in American history or a related social science discipline.4 Among teachers with a primary teaching assignment in history, 30 percent are certified in history specifically (with another 50 percent certified in social studies).5 Nearly half (47 percent) of teachers with a main teaching assignment in history hold a bachelor's degree in history; an additional 5 percent hold a minor in history.6 In fact, 51 percent of teachers with a primary teaching

1 See Appendix A, Table A-3, review of state history/social studies standards, conducted January 2019. 2 Michigan and Maine both require U.S. history. All other data is reflected in Laura Baker, "Most States Require History, But Not Civics," Education Week, Oct. 23, 2018, 3 Jason Hill and Christina Stearns, "Supplemental Tables to Education and Certification Qualifications of Departmentalized Public High School-Level Teachers of Selected Subjects: Evidence From the 2011?12 Schools and Staffing Survey," National Center for Education Statistics, ; Jason Hill and Christina Stearns, "Education and Certification Qualifications of Departmentalized Public High School-Level Teachers of Selected Subjects: Evidence From the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey," National Center for Education Statistics, June 2015, , 18. See Appendix A, Table A-6 and Table A-7 for more on teacher certification in history and social studies by state. 4 Ibid. 5 U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2015-16 Public School Teachers, DataLab, ; U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2015-16 Public School Teachers, DataLab, . 6 U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2015-16 Public School Teachers, DataLab, ; U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2015-16 Public School Teachers, DataLab, ; U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2015-16 Public School Teachers, DataLab, .

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